ON POLITICS; Democrats Make Peace in Bergen County

By RONALD SMOTHERS

Published: April 15, 2007

TWO years ago, when Jon S. Corzine, then a United States senator, was preparing to run for governor, he set out to put some distance between himself and Democratic county political bosses. It was considered a smart political move, given the way his Republican opponents were tenaciously attempting to link him to those party leaders.

His personal wealth, of course, was one antidote to the charges. But he needed another, more political vehicle to publicly assert his independence. To that end, Mr. Corzine threw his support behind Loretta Weinberg, a Democrat then in the State Assembly, in a battle for a State Senate seat. Her opponent was supported by Joseph A. Ferriero, the Bergen County Democratic Party chairman.

Mr. Corzine won his race, as did Ms. Weinberg. Mr. Ferriero's candidate lost, and Mr. Ferriero lost in the face-off.

Last week, Act II of this drama unfolded as Governor Corzine brokered a peace deal between Ms. Weinberg, who is seeking re-election, and the county chairman. Mr. Ferriero and members of the county organization had been prepared to offer the party's ballot line to a different slate of Democratic candidates.

On Thursday, all three appeared together at a news conference as Mr. Ferriero announced that he and the county party would endorse Ms. Weinberg and her entire slate for re-election. As a result, Ms. Weinberg gets to run with Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle and Assemblyman Robert M. Gordon.

''It's a big win for Corzine,'' said Peter J. Woolley, a political scientist and director of the PublicMind Poll at Fairleigh Dickinson University. Mr. Woolley noted that keeping peace in Bergen County, the state's most populous county, was crucial for the Democrats, who only in the last five years or so have established a suburban beachhead in an area that had often produced sizable pluralities for Republicans in statewide elections.

Democrats like Mr. Corzine and Senator Robert Menendez have been able to count on critical pluralities in the county. By buoying Ms. Weinberg while not seeking to destroy Mr. Ferriero, the governor has done much to preserve that kind of electoral arithmetic.

''It's a big win for the Democrats because they keep their blue edge in statewide elections,'' Mr. Woolley said.

Privately, several Democrats and Republicans alike said that Mr. Ferriero must have seen poll results that gave Ms. Weinberg a three-to-one lead over almost any challenger.

''He went to war, but he pulled back, and Weinberg is not rejecting his support,'' said Rick Shaftan, a longtime Republican consultant in North Jersey. ''And Ferriero is still county chairman.''

Paul Swibinski, a veteran Democratic consultant, said that partly because of Republican disarray, Democrats had taken over elected offices in 40 Bergen County towns since Mr. Ferriero became chairman in 1998, as well as the county executive post, the sheriff's office and the majority on the Board of Freeholders.

With this peace, Mr. Swibinski said, Bergen Democrats ''can get back to doing what they do best: beating Republicans'' and producing those important pluralities for Democrats in statewide races.